CHICAGO (December 7, 2017): Amidst growing national public interest in the Stop the Bleed campaign to train the public in bleeding control techniques, the eighth annual American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (ACS TQIP®) Annual Scientific Meeting and Training, held in Chicago November 11-13, featured bleeding control training and a keynote speech outlining the progress to date of bleeding control efforts.

The meeting brought together trauma surgeons, program managers, coordinators, and registrars from participating and prospective TQIP hospitals. The conference featured multiple presentations from TQIP participants highlighting how they are using the program to improve care in their hospitals, along with breakout sessions and dedicated sessions for staff new to the TQIP program.

On the afternoon of November 11, Lenworth M. Jacobs, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, ACS Regent and Hartford Consensus Chairman, delivered the meeting’s keynote speech to a packed room of attendees. Dr. Jacobs elaborated how his involvement reviewing the aftermath of victims fatal injuries of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings drove him to devise a plan to equip the public with hemorrhage control skills, and how these efforts have led to a Presidential Policy Directive and the White House’s 2015 rollout of the Stop the Bleed campaign, in which the ACS and Hartford Consensus played an integral leadership role. These efforts have led to the placement of bleeding control kits in hospitals, schools, stadiums, and other public facilities around the country and also contributed to the growth of bleeding control courses nationally.

Dr. Jacobs said that to date there are now over 8,000 instructors worldwide, and more than 100,000 individuals who have been trained in bleeding control.

Ronald M. Stewart, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma, emphasized, “It was an honor to host Dr. Jacobs as our guest speaker. He spoke on Veterans Day, which was a fitting tribute to our military colleagues, as the principles for the Stop the Bleed campaign were modeled on the combat casualty care program of the U.S. military. The Stop the Bleed program turns bystanders into lifesavers. We know teaching basic bleeding control saves lives, and we are committed to teaching all these lifesaving principles.”

While the TQIP meeting was in town, ACS took the opportunity to bring bleeding control training to local high school students. On Friday, November 10, James Doherty, MD, FACS, Vice Chair of the Chicago Committee on Trauma, trained over 50 students at Chicago's Jones College Prep high school on how to stop the bleed. Students were taught how to use a tourniquet and apply pressure to a wound, among other essential life-saving skills. Each student received a certificate of completion and was given a Stop the Bleed T-shirt.

The TQIP meeting also provided onsite courses in Bleeding Control Basics for trauma care professionals, including a presentation and hands-on skills demonstration of tourniquet application, wound packing, and pressure application. Meeting attendees who have already been trained in Bleeding Control Basics had the opportunity to become a Bleeding Control Instructor by attending the Bleeding Control Instructor Course during the meeting, with tips on how to present bleeding control materials and a discussion of ways to provide a positive learning experience. More than 70 meeting participants took advantage of this opportunity.

“By featuring Dr. Jacobs and the Stop the Bleed initiative at the TQIP annual meeting this year, we have taken a giant step forward in saving the lives of innumerable injured patients in the future,” said Michael C. Chang, MD, FACS, Chair of the TQIP Committee for the ACS COT. “This remarkable initiative potentially empowers every member of our society with the knowledge and skills to save the life of injured bleeding citizens.”

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.